科爾蘇加德
'Kel'Thuzad '''is a Ranged Assassin Hero from the ''Warcraft franchise.2015-11-08, Kel'Thuzad Model. Twitter, accessed on 2015-05-01 Background Kel'Thuzad has faithfully served the Lich King both in life and after death. Reanimated as the Archlich of the Scourge and given domain of the Dread Necropolis, Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad remains Arthas’s most trusted advisor and master of the cold dark. Archlich of Naxxramas, esteemed Lich Lord of the Plaguelands, Commander of the Dread Necropolis, Master and Founder of the Cult of the Damned, formerly of the Council of Six, Creator of the Abomination, Summoner of Archimonde the Defiler, Betrayer of Humanity, Hearthstone Enthusiast, and Majordomo to the Lich King, Kel’Thuzad. Gameplay Summary Kel'Thuzad is an Assassin with a gameplay that revolves around "combo abilities", in the same vein as characters like Kerrigan, Alarak and Kael'thas. He is capable of inflicting plenty of roots, slows and stun effects, as most of his abilities feature at least one form of crowd control. His Trait, , grants him a massive powerspike once completed, allowing him to snowball the match if the quest is completed earlier. This makes Kel'Thuzad particularly valuable at participating in skirmishes, allowing him to complete the quest as soon as possible. Overall, Kel'Thuzad fits in most team compositions, but excels in those with additional crowd control abilities that can synergize or complement his own, allowing him to unleash his true power. Strengths *Capable of setting up powerful crowd control chains. *Powerful burst damage through his ability combos. *Fits into most team composition, being able to adjusts his talents accordingly. * allows Kel'Thuzad to increase his power, and snowball the match once the quest is completed. * has extremely low cost and cooldown, being a versatile tool for waveclearing, poking and follow-up damage. * can secure takedowns if used properly, combining damage and utility. * is a versatile, yet complex ability, that is the basis of Kel'Thuzad combos, capable of pulling enemies towards structures or each other. * 's explosions covers a large radius, and can incapacitate an entire group when well timed. * is a very versatile Heroic Ability, as it has global range, very low cooldown, deals high damage, and is a powerful follow-up to Kel'Thuzad other abilities. Weaknesses *High skill ceiling, being difficult to master. *Requires proper setup to deal effective damage. *Most of his abilities have a delay before being cast, meaning the player must plan ahead so his enemies don't escape. *Awful durability (even supports with low damage, like Lt. Morales and Rehgar can kill him). *All his abilities (except for ) are skillshots. *Vulnerable to dives and Melee Assassins, especially given his limited options for defensive talents. *Lacks self-peeling abilities to repel sticky opponents. *Not very efficient at solo laning. *Cannot deal well against opponents with high mobility, such as Tracer, that can easily dodge his skillshots. * can be completely negated by specific abilities, such as or . Abilities Traits Heroic Abilities Talents Tier 1, Hero Level 1 Tier 2, Hero Level 4 Tier 3, Hero Level 7 Tier 4, Hero Level 10 Tier 5, Hero Level 13 Tier 6, Hero Level 16 Tier 7, Hero Level 20 Talent Builds *Death and Decay Build: focused on increasing 's utility and damage through the key talents and . This build is recommended when additional sources of waveclear are required (such as in Tomb of the Spider Queen and Braxis Holdout). *Frost Nova Build: focused on increasing burst damage potential through the key talents and . This build is recommended when the allied team features plenty of crowd control sources to set up or follow up Kel'Thuzad's own sources of crowd control. *Chains of Kel'Thuzad Build: focused on increasing 's utility and damage, allowing Kel'Thuzad to trade against more resilient Heroes thanks to , as well those that can shield (such as Tassadar) thanks to . Tips *Focus on completing as soon as possible, even if the abilities don't manage to secure takedowns. The sooner it is completed, the faster Kel'Thuzad can snowball the rest of the match. **Hitting opponents like Summoned Bosses (i.e. Dragon Knight and Garden Terror) or clones ( , ) counts towards the quest completion. *Kel'Thuzad's ideal combo should be: > > . **Depending on the Heroic Ability taken, the order changes: *** > > > ; *** > > > . ****Additionally, if is taken, it should be cast before Chains of Kel'Thuzad, depending on the situation (ideally so Kel'Thuzad can "pin" his opponents at the Glacial Spike). *Try to use on cooldown; its low mana and cooldown allows for Kel'Thuzad to constantly poke his opponents and aid in waveclear. *Pick your target wisely; ping your opponent so your team know who to focus. **Additionally, avoid using it on opponents that can negate it, to prevent wasting the cooldown. * 's level 20 talent, , triggers the reset even when hitting opponents like Summoned Bosses (i.e. Dragon Knight and Garden Terror) or clones ( , ). Matchups Pairings Kel'Thuzad is at his best when paired with any Hero that can setup and/or follow-up his ability combos; such as those with reliable crowd control abilities. This makes completing much faster. Most Warriors work very well with Kel'Thuzad, as they are often packed with a kit focused on crowd control and very needed peel for Kel'Thuzad, as his low health and lack of escape makes him an easy target. Alarak and Kel’thuzad are both heroes who are great at capitalizing on the mistakes of their enemies. If an enemy hero steps slightly out of position, they can find themselves quickly pulled into the opposing team via Alarak’s , or pulled to their teammates with Kel’thuzad. Either way, once one of these paired heroes lands an ability on an enemy, the other one can quickly follow up, resulting in devastating damage or even a quick kill. Kel’Thuzad shines the most when his enemies are grouped up so that he can land his devastating spell combos. Heroes like Arthas, who have strong crowd control abilities, are great for acting as a wall for Kel’Thuzad, as well as grouping up enemies so that he can perform at his best offensively. Both The Butcher and Kel’thuzad are Heroes that can build up their power over the match and result in massive snowballing that gives opponents no chance to withstand them; if both Heroes complete their quest-traits ( and ), the team obtains two huge powerspikes. The Butcher's ganking playstyle has great synergy with Kel'Thuzad combo-oriented skillshots: and can and will give Kel'Thuzad enough time to unleash his barrage of abilities. Similarly, Kel'Thuzad's spike damage is more than enough for The Butcher to secure the kills and obtain more . ETC is a powerful Warrior for Heroes who need setup to land their combos. Since Kel’thuzad’s abilities can be hard to land in a vacuum, Heroes who are strong at grouping or isolating enemies are great when paired with him. also synergizes particularly well with Kel’thuzad, as he can put out an incredible amount of damage when the enemies are unable to move; a well placed , for example, can setup the right opportunity for Mosh Pit, and vice-versa. Being one of the sturdiest and durable Warriors in the game, Garrosh can easily capitalize on opponents mispositioning and put them in a favorable spot for Kel'Thuzad's abilities to hit. If well coordinated, Garrosh can use to throw opponents into each other close enough for Kel'Thuzad to hit with ; Garrosh can also throw them directly at , to ensure they will be close when it explodes. Additionally, if given the opportunity, Garrosh's can incapacitate an entire team long enough for Kel'Thuzad to strike. Similarly to Arthas, Johanna can provide much needed peeling and crowd control so Kel'Thuzad can efficiently land his skillshots, being able to efficiently group them together using . Johanna is particularly more useful than Arthas in this case, as she can prevent strong divers, such as Illidan, from sticking on Kel'Thuzad, mostly thanks to her . Valeera's ganking potential can easily open opportunities for Kel'Thuzad to strike, as well aiding against other opponents trying to gank him. Similarly, if Kel'Thuzad manages to trap his opponents in a barrage of abilities, Valeera can quickly follow up. Varian's aggressive playstyle, combined with flexibility in combat, allows him to adjust his talents to suit the best situation for Kel'Thuzad. However, the favorable build is usually going full tank, as is great at securing takedowns, especially given its low cooldown. On the other hand, picking can be useful to eliminate specific key-targets alongside Kel'Thuzad. Xul can provide a solid frontline in the form of his debuffs, with (and many of its talents) and . However, Xul's synergy with Kel'Thuzad lies with , which, once cast, will give Kel'Thuzad enough time to prepare his combos as soon the opponent is rooted. Effective against While Kel'Thuzad becomes a threat to the entire enemy team once , he can be even more dangerous when capitalizing on Heroes with poor mobility and/or lack of spell damage mitigation. He also excels when fighting opponents that can summon clones, as they can "feed" him stacks of his trait, and become targets for . Although Abathur will rarely be in direct contact with the enemy team, Kel'Thuzad can easily capitalize on his stationary gameplay and lack of mobility if given chance. Additionally, 's low cooldown, high damage and global range means he can easily hit Abathur while the same is busy with other tasks, especially during . To add more salt to the wound, should Kel'Thuzad pick , he can harass Abathur over and over to score easy takedowns. Rexxar is pretty much two heroes in one, as he is always accompanied by Misha. Because of that, both of them become easier targets for , therefore using their greatest strength against themselves. Additionally, this aids Kel'Thuzad in completing his trait quest, . While Samuro himself is a counter to Kel'Thuzad (since his slippery nature makes easy to dodge Kel'Thuzad skillshots and easily gank him), his can actually aid Kel'Thuzad into completing by exploiting the clones' AI. Additionally, can be used to pin down the clones to Samuro himself or even other Heroes. Stukov gameplay style of spreading requires allies to stay relatively close to each other, something that Kel'Thuzad can easily take advantage of. Kel'Thuzad can also hit Stukov with and while he channels or pushes someone with , two abilities that put him in a stationary state, leaving him extremely vulnerable. Effective foes Kel'Thuzad's greatest weakness is the fact nearly all his abilities (except for ) are skillshots that require pinpoint accuracy. Therefore, he performs poorly against Heroes with high mobility that can easily dodge his Abilities. Also, Kel'Thuzad's low health and lack of escape and self-peel makes him an easy target to gankers and divers, particularly Stealth-based Heroes. Anub'arak’s innate spell-armor, combined with all the right tools to deal with "mages", can easily prevent Kel'Thuzad from unleashing his true potential. A well timed can easily secure Kel'Thuzad's demise. Chen's high mobility, combined with his powerful shields provided by , allows him to pressure Kel'Thuzad and either dodge or soak his damage (although Kel'Thuzad can actually exploit Chen while he channels his brew and gain easy stacks of ). Both of Chen's Heroic Abilities are effective against Kel'Thuzad, with being particularly more dangerous due him becoming unstoppable. Genji has one of highest mobilities in the game, packed with a powerful kit capable of both poking and executing Kel'Thuzad. In addition, Genji can prevent with a well timed . Illidan high mobility can make difficulty for Kel'Thuzad to hit him with any of his abilities. In addition, Illidan can prevent with a well timed . Li-Ming’s high mobility and heavy burst combined can be a nightmare for Kel’Thuzad to deal with. She out-pokes and out-ranges him, as well being a large enough threat that if he stands still for any length of time to try to land his abilities, he risks taking heavy damage. Kel'Thuzad can be hard to takedown if he has both a solid frontline and backline to protect him. Nova can take advantage of her stealth and range to poke Kel'Thuzad from afar even if he tries to escape. While Kel'Thuzad can exploit Samuro's to complete faster, the Blademaster can take advantage of his clones and strike Kel'Thuzad while he wastes his cooldowns on his clones. In addition, makes Samuro unstoppable, preventing him from being slowed by Kel'Thuzad. Landing can be hard enough on its own, and becomes nearly impossible against someone like Tracer, because even if he can connect the first hit, it’s that much harder to land the second one with her zipping around. Additionally, Tracer can completely negate using . Kel’Thuzad is all about heavy crowd control combined with high burst damage. Uther is able to mitigate burst damage by adding Armor to his allies (thanks to ), and has strong anti crowd control talents that he can access to fairly early in the game, which combined can completely ruin what would otherwise be a great setup for Kel’Thuzad. Valeera's ganking potential can easily take an unsuspecting Kel'Thuzad by surprise, with stuns and silences. Similarly to Valeera, Zeratul can gank Kel'Thuzad with high burst damage. In addition, can either incapacitate Kel'Thuzad or even save Zeratul's own team mates from the Archlich lethal combos. Skins ;Archlich of Naxxramas (base) ;Star Lich :What the heroes of this pitiful blue marble fail to understand is the Earth's fate cannot be delayed forever. In the end, the stars will fade and die, and in the cold dark... Our empire is eternal. :This skin is related to the Eternal Empire themed-skins. Features altered voice-over and themed abilities. Development Kel'Thuzad was under consideration for inclusion as early as 2011.2001-10-23, BlizzCon 2011 - Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and Blizzard DOTA - Art & Technology Panel (Full). YouTube, accessed on 2011-11-07 He was reguarly the most requested hero from players in censuses undertaken by Blizzard Entertainment.2017-09-10, Resurrecting Kel’Thuzad: Honoring a Legacy – Heroes of the Storm. YouTube, accessed on 2017-09-10 His model was previewed at BlizzCon 2014. Work began on him in January 2017. The "paper design" phase ended on January 30, ahead of schedule.2017-08-29, Resurrecting Kel’Thuzad: Paper to Pixel – Heroes of the Storm. YouTube, accessed on 2017-09-10 Kel'Thuzad's abilities are themed around frost and shadow magic, rather than necromancy.2017-08-24, GamesCom 2017 Heroes of the Storm Kel'Thuzad Interview. YouTube, accessed on 2017-08-26 Trivia * Similarly to Leoric's "Space Lord" skin, Kel'Thuzad's Star Lich skin is a satire to Darth Sidious from Star Wars. This is evident with the different voice lines that makes analogy to the series. Patch changes * References External links *At WoWWiki *Hero page on official site